Vanquish Your Business Demons

As business owners, we feel we understand APR when we are checking out finance options, so it seems like a reasonable starting question. Apparently, we are all idiots and this is the most annoying question in the world to ask a finance broker. In this latest series of the Business Demons podcast I have teamed up with veteran broker Mike Deacon to explore how business owners can improve how their b...

Bill & Julia talk about Sales & Marketing Strategy in this episode - why you need one and how to go about making it the best

Thi phrase is true of a lot of things, but it is particularly true when it comes to business strategy. Which is why Julia & Bill are talking about it.

Welcome back to series 4! Julia is being joined in this series by the other half of Be Astute - Bill Stock to talk about the various issues and joys of being a small business owner.

We got a great question from one of our listeners this week, and it turned into a great conversation about all things staff - including the role of hotpants in the workplace........

Everything in business is a choice. Some we feel in control of and some we feel pushed into. So why are we making the choices that we do?

This week Julia and Andrea are talking about the joys of staff training - why business owners don't do this, and all the benefits for your business if you do it well. And yes - raft building with a lady on a mobility scooter was discussed........

This week Andrea and Julia are talking about the joys of webinars - not to visit but to run as a way of generating more sales for your business. Why is this interesting? Because so many people run dreadful webinars! So pick up a bunch of tips from two experts about how to be a cut above the competition.

We have all had times when we decided to let things slide - and normally regretted them later when they turn into much bigger problems - so what is the art of bud nipping?

Julia & Andrea discuss an age old leadership question today. Some leaders deliberately recruit people to be better than them: leading to the questions - What value is the boss adding? Others deliberately recruit people who will never threaten them: So what is the plan for business continuity?

Andrea is very proud that she has started to set time boundaries - and they worked! Cue a wide ranging conversation about the difference between Leadership and Management, plus what you need to think about next. This seemed to involve toilets and the Kennedy Space Centre.......

Julia and Andrea decided to go all educational this week - looking at two key pieces of business jargon and why they might help business owners be less unintentionally daft with how they run their empire. And the answer is yes - you do need these 2 things in your life.......

Andrea and Julia have both put their prices up and are loving the results. This week they talk about what they did and how it changed things in their business.

There are many different reasons why business owners lose the plot. Julia & Andrea decided to explore this topic because they both had these feelings. Given that most people do not enjoy feeling like this, and it impacts how the rest of the world see us, they thought it was a good topic.

Networking - sometimes known as not-working can be an incredibly powerful business tool.  It can also be a massive waste of time, effort and money.  Which is why Julia & Andrea decided to make it the subject of this weeks podcast.  And pretty much just managed to tickle the surface.......

Andrea and Julia spend this week talking about how our appetite to risk is actually is quite nuanced - we can be really brave in some parts of our lives and absolutely chicken in others.  Understanding this helps with our business and life strategy.  And in working out which comfort zones we should be pushing.

Andrea and Julia got inspired by a Linked In post they spotted last week from a business owner feeling guilty about taking her kids to work during half term.  Unsurprisingly they had an opinion about that........ 

Revenge is sweet!  Last week Andrea tormented Julia over her knowledge of how to manage teams.  This week it's Julia's turn to grill Andrea - on all the things businesses get wrong when trying to do their own PR.....

Andrea came up with what she thought was a brilliant plan this week.  Ask Julia a load of questions about managing remote teams and see if she cracks........  Since Julia has over 20 years experience of managing every type of team there is you can decide if Andrea was on to a winner.

We use IT to run every aspect of our businesses to one extent or another.  But that does not mean we are making good decisions about what to use or who to trust with something so business critical - to your customer service, reputation, and profitability...... All of which Julia & Andrea talk about.

Small businesses tend to be more than just about making money.  As business owners our values and passions get wrapped up in the values for our business.  And there is such emphasis on the climate challenge at the moment it is easy to think that a public commitment to this is a sure fire business winner.  But is it really? Julia & Andrea investigate.......  

Julia & Andrea are talking about loyalty schemes this week.  Something that as small business owners we always feel we should be doing - it is after all many times easier to get an existing customer to spend more than it is to find a new one.  So is it always a walk in the park or something we should be putting sa lot more thought in to?

New Year - new podcast host!  Amazing PR expert Andrea Sexton has joined the Business Demons team to give her really interesting take on being a small business owner - that everything you do comes back to reputation.  And she is totally correct. To start off with we thought we would talk consistency.  It is the key to business success - and permeates absolutely everything

As business owners we all know we should be investing to grow.  So why do so many of us have a problems with doing just that?  Vicky & I see this a lot in the people we talk to, both at start up and at key moments.  There is a lot of head nonsense going on in the decisions we do and don't take - which is what we are focusing on in the episode.

As business owners survival mode is a real state of mind.  And it isn't a good one.  Often created by external factors - the state of the economy, external regulation, or even personal problems. Survival mode makes the world look grey, and reduces your own mental room for maneuver.   Both Vicky and Julia have been through it, and thought today was a good time to talk about what...